Special Providence_ American Foreign Policy and How It Changed World - Walter Russell Mead

ChangingtheParadigms 75

eignpolicycompelledbothCarterandReagantoaddressurgent,unmis-
takablepriorities.BoththeliberalDemocratswhocametopowerwith
PresidentJimmyCarterandtheconservativeRepublicanswhocamein
withRonaldReaganfouryears latermoveddecisivelyawayfromthe
NixonandKissingerapproach.
Thedecadeofeconomicturmoilandinflationthatfollowedthecata-
strophicallymismanageddemiseoftheBrettonWoodssystemforced
policymakersbacktotheeconomictableastheyscrambledtorepairthe
damagetothe WesterneconomicorderthatNixonhadunwittingly
caused.UltimatelythesuccessoftheAmericaneconomyspecificallyand
the internationaleconomy ingeneral wouldinflict moredamage on
AsiancommunismthantheVietnamWareverdid,andconvinceSoviet
presidentMikhailGorbachevthatradicalpoliticalandeconomicreform
wastheonlyoptionopentohiscountry.
WhileCarterandReagandisagreedonmanyissues,bothagreedthat
a stronghumanrightspolicywasa crucialelementinaneffectiveCold
Warstrategyfor theUnitedStates. Carterwillingly,andReaganat
firstreluctantlybutwithincreasingconfidenceandenthusiasm,with-
drewAmericanpatronagefromthedictatorialthird-worldregimesthat
Nixon'sdiplomacyhadhailedas keyallies.Pinochet'sdictatorshipin
Chile, whose bloody seizure ofpowerwas supported by the Nixon
administration,wasisolatedandplacedundersanctionsbyReagan.The
SouthAfricanapartheidregime,whichNixonsupportedinitsfailedwar
againstCubantroopsandSoviet-backedguerrillasinAngola,waspro-
gressivelyisolatedundertheReaganadministration.FerdinandMarcos
ofthePhilippines,lionizedbyNixon,livedtoseeReaganthrowhispres-
tigebehindthe 1986 "PeoplePower"revolutionofCorazonAquino.
Americanbackingforhumanrightswouldalsoplaya keyroleinthe
declineandfalloftheSovietEmpire.LechWalesa,AndreiSakharov,and
JohnPaulIIhadnomoredivisionsthanPiusXII;theyturnedout,how-
ever,tohaveenough.
CarterandReagancamebyverydifferentroadstotheconclusion
that theColdWarstrugglewiththeSovietUnionrequireda moral
dimension.Hereitwas Reaganwhoseinstinctiveapproachtointerna-
tionalpoliticsfoundthetransitioneasyandnatural.Steepedintheanti-
communismoftheAmericanright,Reaganhadchafedas Nixonand
Kissingerattempted tomanageU.S.-Sovietrelationsonthebasisof
realpolitik.ThatcommunismwasanevilwasnotonlyoneofReagan's
strongestpersonalconvictions;remindingAmericansofitsevils,was,